The trouble with having a long sleep in the afternoon is you wake up at 3am and suddenly remember chocolate cake….and this is how we found ourselves eating the last bits while a storm lashed outside.

I woke to a steady downpour that sounded a bit like a waterfall. Without a tin roof I wasn’t sure, so headed outside on the balcony to see if it was actually raining. Having no wind it fell straight down and I stretched my hand out to feel it. Lightening wrote silently across the sky while thunder rumbled around in the distance

We both read for a couple of hours before nodding off again and almost missed breakfast which was a multi course feast. Fom fresh tropical fruits, Bircher meusili and Greek yoghurt, delicate curries and noodles or rices of every description, through to the traditional European omelettes, pancakes and waffles, fresh made to order, finished with coffee and pastries of course….and that’s just what I ate. There was much more besides to choose from. There was a lot more nationalities than I remember from our last visit including a lot of Muslim families with Mum in her burqa and veil. Makes for interesting swimming and sunbathing…

We wandered down to the pool area and watched monkeys checking out the rubbish bins with chip packets on their heads and tropical birds flying through the palm trees. It’s overcast still after the rain last night but the towel guy tells me it will clear and we will have sun again soon and true enough it becomes so hot we are dipping and sunbathing in between dozing and reading, until happy hour. We grab a couple of cocktails at the pool bar and chat to a young Aussie couple who say they would love to live in NZ and can’t understand why so many kiwis would move to Aussie.

This is a replica of a pic I took of Gilbert ten years ago. Same pool, same place. I’ll compare when we get back. I watched a much younger couple, and for at least half an hour she posed and pouted like she was doing a shoot for a glossy cover. Her man followed all her instructions. “Over here. This side, that angle, a little more twist, did you get that in, did you get me in the air. Do it again”. You’d think her life depended on it. “Now your turn”, she said and took the camera off him and he just went and stood awkward like in front of the waterfall and another with the beach behind. That’s enough he said. I had to chuckle to myself.

Just so you know. Ren said this is called Dragon Fruit. It’s delicious and tastes a bit like kiwi fruit crossed with watermelon maybe, tho not so sweet. Ren wondered why they didn’t give us durian. Yeah right!